Players believe the difference between games 1-6 and 7-12 can be traced to their practice habits.

In the words of one senior player: "We were ready to play, but we didn’t understand how hard it was, Sunday through Friday, to prepare for a game Saturday."

Says another: "We’re still the same team, but we’re practicing harder than we did. We knew we had the talent. We knew we had a team that could win. It was all about preparation."

"There’s just been more preparation, more film study, more guys getting together to watch film," said Courtney Greene, a senior safety. "We’ve just put more extra time into it than we did at the beginning of the year."